Actor Sonu Sood is feeling ‘vindicated’ after Thursday’s hearing of his petition against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Supreme Court. Sonu withdrew his petition, which challenged the BMC notice sent to him for alleged illegal construction on his property.
Sonu Sood said, “‘Peace is not the absence of war but the presence of justice’ – Harrison Ford. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has finally given me a breath of fresh air and time to take corrective measures. The structure was always legal, despite it being coloured otherwise. I feel vindicated since I have always had utmost and complete faith in the judiciary, and have always strived to abide by the law. My sole endeavour has been to conduct my business in a fair manner, with all the requisite permissions and clearances as may be required in law.”
He added, “Unfortunately, I have had to suffer at the hands of certain persons with nefarious designs, who were out to malign my image. My request to everyone is to not give in to the demands of such people, who masquerade as social activists, but are essentially not. May better sense prevail upon them. My special thanks goes out to the team at Lawmen & White. Its partners, Adv. Ujjawal Anand Sharma, Adv. Prashant Sivarajan & adv. D.Kumanan, have been a constant source of support. In the end, as always, justice prevails.”
A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian took up Sonu Sood’s plea on Friday. On January 21, Bombay High Court judge Justice Prithviraj Chavan, while dismissing Sood’s plea, had said that the law helps only those who are diligent.
Sood’s lawyer had sought 10 weeks’ time to comply with the notice issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in October last year, and urged the high court to direct the civic body not to begin demolition action. The high court told Sood’s lawyer that he can approach the civic body and declined to pass any direction.
According to BMC, Sood had carried out structural changes in the six-storey residential building ‘Shakti Sagar’. It was alleged that he had converted this building into a hotel without taking requisite permissions.
